Shade-holding device.



PATENTED FEB, 24, 1903.

0. L. HOPKINS. SHADE HOLDING DEVIGE.

APPLICATION IILED'IEB. 12, 19 02.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1 H0 MODEL.

15 PErER-cdfwgromrua. WASHINGTON o c m; noun 'No. 721,193. PATENTED@FEB. 24, 190s..

. 0. L. HOPKINS.

SHADE HOLDING DEVICE. APPLICATION FILED us. 12, 1902. y 10 MODEL. '2slums-sum 2.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES L. HOPKINS, OF ALBANY, NEW YORK.

SHADE-HOLDING DEVICE.

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent No. 721,193, dated February24, 1903. Application 'filed February 12, 1902. Serial No. 93,688. (Nomodel.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES L.-HOPKINS, a citizen of the United States,residing at Albany, in the county of Albany and State of New York,have'invented certain new and useful Improvements in Shade-HoldingDevices, of which the followingis a specification.

The. invention relates to improvements in that class of devices whichare adapted to be secured to thelower edge of aspring-actuated curtainor shade to guide the shade and hold it at any desired point against thetendency of the spring shade-roller to draw it up.

More particularly, this invention relates to that class of shade-holdingdevices wherein is employed a spring-extended stick, carried in a pocketformed in the material of the shade, having friction-shoes at the endsof the stick adapted to move in grooves in the window-frame.

The principal objects of this invention are to provide means whereby theshade may be adjusted by grasping the shade-stick at any point thereofand moving the shade up or down without danger of the shade-holdingdevice being thrown from the grooves in the window-casing and which willautomatically right itself if left in aninclined position.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a sectional view of one end of ashade-holding device embodying my invention, showing the parts in theirnormal positions or in the positions they will assume when the shade isstationary. Fig. 2 is a view, partly in section, of one end of thedevice with the shoe thrown upwardly and inwardly or toward the head.Fig. 3 is a broken elevation of the device, partly in section,showingits action in righting itself. Fig. 4 is an elevation of a shadefitted with this form of shade-holding device, the spring shade-rolleralso being shown.

In the drawings, in which 0 is the shade or curtain fitted with a springshade-roller 26, is the usual tube forming the stick and carrying theother parts. Within the tube and having a reciprocating movement thereinis the spindle 11, surrounded by the coiled spring 12. The spindle 11carries atits outer end the head 13, having a cylindrical part 13extendinginto the tube and against which the spring 12 thrusts upwardlyand downwardly extending arms 13 and 13. Carried by each of these armsis a short bar or rod 14 and 14, respectively. One end of each rod ispivoted to the head 13 by a pin 15 and 15*, respectively. The outer endof each of these rods 15 and 15 is pivoted to the shoel6 by a pin 17 and17 respectively. The shoe 16 as thus connected to the head 13 ispermitted an up-and-down movement with relation to the head 13 and maybe close to the head .13, as shown in Fig. 2, or at a certain distancetherefrom, as shown in Fig. 1. The spring 18, carried by the pin 19,tends to throw the shoe 16 downwardly and outwardly. The shoe 16 islimitedin its downward movement by the foot-shaped projection 20 on therod 14*.

Within the tube 10 and forming a seat for the spring 12 is a sleeve 21,secured in'place by the screw 22. Another sleeve 23, threaded upon itsinner surface to engage threads upon the spindle 11, is arranged to havereciprocating movement within the tube 10 and to abut the sleeve 21 whenthe spindle 1 1 and head 13 are thrust outwardly by the spring 12, thuslimiting the outward thrust of the spring 12 upon the head 13. Thismovable sleeve 23 is prevented from rotating by the pin 24, which movesin a slot 25 in the tube 10. This arrangement forms a convenient meansfor adjusting the device to Windows of varying widths. By turning thehead 13 to the right or left the spindle 11 is screwed into or out ofthe sleeve 23and the device is thus shortened or lengthened, as desired.

The principal difficulty to be overcome in constructing a shade-holdingdevice employing elongated friction -shoes is to provide means wherebywhen the stick is drawn down by one end the other end may descend ofitself and means whereby when the device is forced into anangular'position and thus left the spring shade-roller may throw thedevice back to its normal position. In the shade-holding device hereindescribed and shown in the drawings the first of --these objects isattained by providing such an arrangement of parts thatithe device ispractically without holding power to resist a downward pull. Were it notfor the upward pull of the spring shade-roller the device would of itsown weight descend to the bottom of the window-casing. This may bereadily understood from Figs. 1, 2, and 4 of the drawings. It is evidentthat when the device is moving downwardly along the window-casing theshoe 16,by reason of its flexible connection with the head 13, ispermitted to lag' behind the head 13. The said head 13 is prevented frommoving outwardly by the sleeve 23 abutting the sleeve 21. The spring 18tending to throw the shoe 16 outwardly and downwardly holds the shoe 16in contact with the window-casing; but as this spring 18 has but littlepower the shoe 16 is not held against the window-casing with sufficientforce to give it perceptible frictional holding power. As soon, however,as a force tending to move the shoes upwardly along the grooves-as, forinstance, the upward pull of the spring shade-roller 26-is applied tothe device the shoes 1.6 and short bars or rods 14 and 14c instantly setthemselves in the positions shown in Figs. 1 and 1, the heads 13 areforced inwardly, the springs 12 are comprcsed, and the device holds theshade against the pull of the spring roller 26. This absence offrictional holding power to resist a downward pull enables the device todescend level, whether grasped at one end or at a point midway betweenthe ends of the stick.

The action of the device in righting itself after being left in anangular position may be understood from Fig. 3. If we let the straightline a: 00 represent conventionally the left-hand edge of the shade, theother edge may be represented by the irregular line y y. In this figurethe device is represented as having been drawn down at the left-handside of the window-casing and pushed up at the right-hand side. As iswell understood, the upward pull of the spring shade-roller at the topof the shade is exerted wholly upon the lower, or in this caseleft-hand, end of the device, tending to draw said end up until thedevice stands level. Now if the shoes 16 were rigidly secured to theheads 13 the outwardly-thrusting springs 12 would be greatly compressedwhen the shade-holding device stood in the position here shown, and theupper end of the left-hand shoe and the lower end of the right-handshoe, the points at which the device bears upon the window-casing, wouldbe pressed against the windowcasing with so much force that the springshade-roller could not right the device; but

with the arrangement of heads 13, short rods 14: and 14, and shoes 16here shown the shoe 16 at the right-hand end of the device movesinwardly or toward the head 13 and upwardly with relation to said head,and the right-hand end of the device falls by gravity, while theopposite end of the device is drawn upwardly by the spring shade-roller.By means of this arrangement of parts the device is effectuallyprevented from becoming wedged in the window-casing.

While this device may be made to work satisfactorily without the use ofmeans for limiting the outward thrust of the springs 12 upon the heads13, the employment of such means greatly. improves the action of thedevice and is an important part of the invention.

I claim- 1. In a shade-holding device, in combination with a stick,heads at the ends of the stick, shoes carried by the heads, the shoeshaving up-and-down movement relatively to the heads, means formaintaining the shoes perpendicular to the stick at all times, andspring means for moving the shoes downwardly, substantially as and forthe purpose described.

2. In a shade-holding device, the combination of a stick, a head at theend of the stick, an elongated shoe carried by the head having movementtoward and away from the head and up and down relatively to the head,and spring means interposed between the head and the shoe tending tomove the shoe downwardly and away from the head, substantially asdescribed.

3. In a shade-holding device, the combination of a stick, a shoe at theend of the stick, said shoe being perpendicular to the stick at alltimes, and having movement toward and away from the stick and up-anddownmovement relatively to the stick, means for limiting the movement of theshoe downwardly, and means tending to move said shoe downwardly,substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

CHARLES L. HOPKINS.

Witnesses:

W. E. HOPKINS, B. P. HOPKINS.

